Organomagnesium compounds, such as dialkylmagnesium compounds containing a total of from about five to about twenty carbon atoms in the two alkyl groups contained therein, have a tendency to oligomerize in hydrocarbon solution thereby resulting in an undesired viscosity increase in such solutions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,393 teaches that organoaluminum compounds can be utilized as a suitable class of viscosity reduction additives (for example, at a concentration of about 2 mole % aluminum based on the soluble magnesium content) for such organomagnesium solutions. This has been a commercially preferred technique for achieving the desired viscosity reduction, although it suffers from the disadvantage that aluminum is introduced as a hetero metal atom into the system which may often be an undesirable byproduct of the desired viscosity reduction effect.
A variety of other disclosures exist in the art in regard to how the viscosity of normally viscous solutions of organomagnesium compounds can be reduced as represented by the following references:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,781 advocates the use of organometallic compounds of gallium, indium, and lithium as representative viscosity reduction agents; and
U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,477 indicates that a defined type of benzene derivative can be employed as a viscosity reduction agent.